Limiting what novelists can write about won’t help readers [Blogger’s Comments In Red.] Washington Post — Opinion by Kathleen Parker — May 12, 2023 “Fiction is where I go to tell the truth,” the late, great Pat Conroy once said. In his acclaimed novels, Conroy cut close to the bone, exposing human truths that … Continue reading More On Limiting What Authors Can Write About
According to some of what I read and hear these days, I definitely should not have written this story, about a young slave girl and the Quaker saint John Woolman. Why not? Mostly because of what I wasn’t: I wasn’t a girl (& never had been); wasn’t a slave (or even an enslaver, for that … Continue reading A Story. Could I get it published in Florida this year? Probably not. Maybe Not New York Either?
It was in the second session of our anti-racism class, if I remember right, that the teacher drew a diagram on the big flip chart. I’m going to call it TUD, for The Unforgettable Diagram. I’ve forgotten a lot about the class, but not that. Definitely not that. The class met in the library at … Continue reading Aiming for the Roots: Anti-Racism and A Failed Attack on Racist Culture
New York Times Exorcising the Ghost of Robert E. Lee [Excerpts] April 27, 2023 Credit…Mark Harris By Brent Staples Mr. Staples is a member of the editorial board. It stands to reason that Woodrow Wilson would be the president to bring us Army bases named for traitors who waged war on this country with … Continue reading Confederate Bogus “Saint” Begone! Welcome to Fort Gregg-Adams
Washington Post — April 18, 2023 Clarence Thomas’s explanations fail the laugh test . Eugene Robinson During his much-too-long tenure on the Supreme Court, Justice Clarence Thomas has been totally, tragically wrong about almost everything. But for a long time, I tried to convince myself that he was at least sincere in his deplorable ideology. Silly … Continue reading Eugene Robinson on Clarence Thomas: Not Funny